Worlds Of Fire And Darkness

Chapter 1

Aelin slumped onto the rock-hard ground, gritting her teeth against the pain that rushed through her and stumbling a bit before she gained her balance.

Still hunched over, her hands braced on her knees, the scent was what hit her first. It wasn’t the salt smell of the mines of Endovier, there was no hint of that delicate scent of pine and snow of her mate who was waiting for her, no, there was not a single familiar scent.

Aelin straightened her back and scanned her surroundings, she was in an unfamiliar forest with trees and plants like she had never seen before, the sun on the horizon was setting and nothing around her felt like home. Because Aelin wasn’t home. Aelin wasn’t in Erilea. She had landed in a different world.

She tried and failed to control her breathing, her panic. She was in whole other world and the mere thought of it had her balling her hands into tight fists. Another world, another life, another existence. Her young, pathetic brain found it too much to take.

She’d been sealing the wyrd gate and had killed the gods, she’d killed the fucking gods, and had lept through a portal hoping to land in her world again.

When understanding of her situation finally sank in, Aelin was able to master herself again to start making rational thoughts on how to get herself out of this mess.

She reached deep into the well of power in her and summoned a flame that danced around her fingertips and controlled it for a bit, testing how much power she still had, before she willed it to wink out and drown her in the dark of the now completely obscure forest. At least her magic wasn’t gone.

She was in her fae form, and Aelin guessed she would never get that human part of hers again since she gave it up to close that damned wyrd gate. But it didn't sadden her, it was a small price to pay compared to what had been originally asked of her to do. To give up her life and not just a part of it.

Her sharp fae sight and hearing were her only guides as she began moving through the woods, taking extra caution by changing directions every now and then, she needed to find something, someone. Anything or anyone that could help her go back to her world.

After minutes maybe hours of walking, Aelin found a small cave barely visible to the moonlight and decided to spend her night in it, at least till the sun rose and she was able to walk in clear daylight without having to worry about what might attack her in the next second.

She'd sat with her back against the cave's wall and her arms wrapped around herself, trying desperately to get warm, when she heard the sound of leaves and twigs being crushed under heavy footsteps.

She immediately was up, Goldryn shining as she unsheathed the blade, and took a fighting position with her sword angled perfectly to slice through any enemy. Thank the gods that the ancient sword had tumbled with her here.

The footsteps neared and Aelin moved. She popped her head out of the cave just to see who or what it was and if she needed to move. Her eyes widened as she spotted a winged male, just like the one she’d seen when she'd been falling throught he sky. 

The male was big, twice her size. The moon illuminated enough that she saw his huge wings stretched out behind him and, he was glowing, she realised, the male was glowing red on many spots on his body.

Aelin slowly, so slowly, eased out of the cave, years of training her stealth paying off, as she approached the male. He didn’t have time to move as Aelin took a place behind him and pressed Goldryn to his throat, her other arm holding his shoulder and whispered in his ear, “Not a move, male.”

                              -o-0-o-

Cassian knew his chances at escaping the hard grip on him. The voice told him it was a woman, but how had she snuck up on him? No one in Prythian had been able to get past his defences.